The embodiments described herein relate generally to electrical equipment and, more particularly, to heat transfer from an electrical component to an enclosure.
Electrical distribution equipment and components are generally required to operate within a temperature range established by safety organizations as an industry standard. For example, one such standard provides an upper temperature rise limit for electrical equipment panels, such as circuit breaker panels. At least some known electrical panels include conductive materials in a current path to provide heat transfer away from vulnerable components. However, copper, for example, has become expensive. Moreover, these conductive materials can introduce a feedback component, wherein heat generated by one component is transferred away from that component using another heat generating component. Furthermore, these conductive materials generally cannot be placed directly into electrical contact with an enclosure because of the risk of shock to a user. Furthermore, additional insulative material is required between these conductive materials to prevent current from being conducted between phase conductors or to an enclosure. For example, a copper conductor cannot generally be positioned in contact with the enclosure of known equipment panels because current carried by the copper conductor can be transferred to a user that contacts the enclosure door.